18 And I will come and shew it unto thee: then thou shalt go forth with all thine army, and there shall be none of them that shall resist thee.

19 And I will lead thee through the midst of Judea, until thou come before Jerusalem; and I will set thy throne in the midst thereof; and thou shalt drive them as sheep that have no shepherd, and a dog shall Or, bark. not so much as 'open his mouth at things thee: for these things were told me according to my foreknowledge, and

Exod. 11.7.

Or, these

have I spoken.

19. through the midst.] dià péσov Ts 'Iovd., where pérov is a neut. substant. Heb. 1. Cod. 58 has the better Greek, dià péons. until thou come.] This is probably right. Heb. 7; so Cod. 19, and the Syriac. Cod. 58 has until I come.

I will set.] Codd. 19, 108, thou shalt set. “ Thy throne” is τὸν δίφρον σου; but Codd. 23, 44, 74, 76, al. have θρόνον. Δίφρος represents Heb. 2, sella, in Deut. xvii. 18; 1 Sam. i. 9; 2 Kings iv. 10; 2 Macc. xiv. 21. as sheep that have no shepherd.] "Or, an army whose leader is slain (1 Kings xxii. 17). Such in Judith's intention the Assyrians were soon to be" (Churton). Cf. also Matt. ix. 36; Num. xxvii. 17. Shepherd was an Assyrian as well as a Hebrew synonym of king.

So

a dog shall not so much, &c.] Lit. and a dog shall not mutter (ypuge) with his tongue against thee. Tpúgo, which the Attic comedians use in the sense of to mutter or grumble, is Heb. 1, "to sharpen," Exod. xi. 7, where this proverbial expression first occurs. Midrash. Cf. also Josh. x. 21. The meaning here is: Thou shalt meet with no resistance, not even of the feeblest kind. Pellicanus, annotating the Vulgate, wrote, "Ego adducam te; i.e. caput tuum. Non latrabunt contra te canes; non enim vives, sed potius illis cibus abjicieris."

they were declared unto me, and I am sent to tell thee.

20 Then her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants; and they marvelled at her wisdom, and said,

21 There is not such a woman from one end of the earth to the other, both for beauty of face, and wisdom of words.

22 Likewise Holofernes said unto her, God hath done well to send thee before the people, that strength might be in our hands, and destruction upon them that lightly regard my lord.

according to my foreknowledge.] Codd. 19, 108 omit my; cf. ch. ix. 6. The meaning seems to be: were spoken to me prophetically; or as Gaab and De Wette put it, durch Offenbarung, "by (or in the way of) revelation." Fritzsche prefers to understand póyvwots of Judith's natural foresight of the end, which was confirmed by a special revelation; but this is too artificial to be probable. Cf. the Vulg. "Haec mihi dicta sunt per providentiam Dei." So

Midrash: "All this was told me in the visions

of God, and on account of the hot anger of the Lord am I sent to tell thee all this." The Syriac omits: "and they were declared unto me." Cf. Cod. 58, which has, instead of kaì ἀπηγγέλη μοι κ. ἀπεστάλην, simply καὶ ἦλθον

τοῦ.

22. the people.] Cod. 58, Old Lat., thy people; Syr. the sons of thy people.

that strength might be in our hands.] Cf. the phrase to strengthen the hands of one, Ezra vi. 22; Neh. vi. 9; Jer. xxiii. 14, and elsewhere. Assuming what she said to be true, Judith's mission to the Assyrians was a divine strengthening of their hands. But Holofernes' recognition of the fact clashes with his former assertion of the sole divinity of Nabuchodonosor (ch. iii. 8; vi. 2), as Pellicanus long ago observed. Cod. 58 has in us for in our hands; and the Syriac,

thy God shall be my God.] Cf. Gen. xxviii. 21; 2 Kings v. 17; Ruth i. 16. In all good faith Holofernes declares that if Judith's God grant him the predicted triumph, he will adopt his worship. Judith's beauty and craft are completely successful.

dawell.] kanon, "sit." The Heb. means both "to sit" and "to dwell." Cf. Lat. sedes, and our seat.

renowned through the whole earth.] ovoμаσтη парà Tâσаv τηy yv, renowned above all the earth, the comparative use of aрá. The earth is put for the inhabitants of it, as often. CHAPTER XII.

1. where his plate was set.] Where his silver vessels used to be put or laid (éríðero). тà áруvрáμата recurs, ch. xv. II; I Macc. XV. 32. Old Lat. argentum; cod. Corb., pecunia. Vulg. thesauri. "If the word plate were used, it should at least be limited by silver," remarks Dr. Bissell. Plate, however, is the Spanish plata, silver. Judith is led into the banqueting chamber.~ (Syr. omits "to bring... set").

prepare.] KαTαorp@oai, sternere; to spread a couch (λívny), or rather "soft skins" (v. 15), for her to recline upon at his table. The literal translation seems to be: and he commanded to spread for her to drink of his dainties and his wine. Ilivew is connected by zeugma with ἀπὸ τῶν ὀψοποιημάτων, as well as with τοῦ οἴνου. Cf. "I will not eat" in v. 2, which, vice versa, includes the wine as well Apoc.-Vol. I.

as the viands. Syr.: "and he commanded that they should spread (a couch) for her, and that they should give her of his feast, and of the wine of his drink." It looks as if kal dovvai avrỷ had fallen out after avrŷ: Codd. 19, 108 have these words, and so Old Lat. (In that case miei, the reading of Codd. iii. 58, 76, al. is right.)

'Ovonoinua is a rare word, occurring besides only in the Geoponica (x. 18), in the sense of preparation of food, cookery. Here it means dainty fare. The verb ovomоiew, "to cook daintily," and the noun οψοποιΐα, “ fine cookery," as well as ovonoids, "a cook," and VOTOINTIKη, "the art of cookery," are found in the classics.

2. lest there be an offence.] Gk. iva un yévηrai σkávdaλov. Cf. ch. v. 1, 19. Fritzsche says: "An offence not with men but with God, through eating of unclean foods forbidden in the Law, which would prove ruinous." Richard Arnald wrote: "It was the custom of ancient times to consecrate all that they did eat or drink to their gods, by putting part of it on the altar, or casting it into the fire; so that to eat of meats and drinks so consecrated was in effect to partake of things offered to idols." See 2 Macc. vi. 18 sqq. In Israel all foods were virtually consecrated by the offering of the first-fruits and sacrifices. See Lev. xvii. 3, xxiii. 14; Deut. xii. 21 sqq. Cf. 'Odyss.' iii. 5-68. Some MSS. read yévnraí pot, and so the Syr. and Old Lat.; this accords with the general use of σκάνδαλον : “ lest there arise a snare (or stumbling-block) to me." Cf. Judges viii. 27; Ps. lxix. 22; Matt. xviii. 7; Rom. xvi. 17; 1 Cor. viii. 13.

The writer lays great stress upon Judith's scruples about "unclean meats," and the tenderness of her conscience about such matters stands in startling contrast with her well-considered lying and calculated treachery. She belongs to her own age, not ours; an age which refined upon the Law itself, in its pursuit of ceremonial purity. Cf. Dan. i. 8; Tobit i. 11; 2 Macc. vi. 7, 18; also Ezek. iv. 13, 14; Hos. ix. 3, "They shall eat unclean things in Assyria;" Mark vii. 2-23; Acts x. 9-16.

Ꮓ

but provision shall be made for me of the things that I have brought.

3 Then Holofernes said unto her, If thy provision should fail, how should we give thee the like? for there be none with us of thy nation. 4 Then said Judith unto him, As thy soul liveth, my lord, thine handmaid shall not spend those things that I have, before the Lord work by mine hand the things that he hath determined.

5 Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she

provision shall be made. brought.] Lit. out of the things that have followed me it shall be provided. For xopnyeioda in this sense, see Arist. 'Polit.' iii. 11. 2, iv. 1. 1; and cf. Eth. Nic.' i. 10, 15.

Cod. 58 has xophyet μo," provide for me;" Codd. 23, 44, al. "I will be provided; Syr. "sufficeth me that which came with me.' Cf. 1 Macc. xiv. 10; Ecclus. i. 8, 23; 1 Kings iv. 7 (= baba).

3. thy provision.] тà Őνта μeтà σoû.

how should we give thee the like?] Tóbev ἐξοίσομέν σοι δοῦναι ὅμοια αὐτοῖς ; “ whence shall we bring forth (i.e. out of what stores), to give thee things like to them?" But Codd. iii. 19. 58, 23, 52, al. have πóbev ëέoμey, “whence shall we be able, &c." Syr. "whence (will it be) to us to give thee like it?"

for there be none with us of thy nation.] For there is not with us [a man; so Cod. 58, Syr., Old Lat.] of thy nation [who bath the like: Syr., Old Lat.]. The Old Lat. (cod. Corb.) has: "non enim est nobiscum ex genere tuo aliquid;” a false explanation.

4. As thy soul_liveth.] See ch. xi. 7; 1 Sam. i. 26; 2 Sam. xí. 11; Hos. iv. 15; Amos viii. 14. Cod. 58 omits the formula.

those things that I have.] Tà övта μer' pov (v. 3). Cod. 58, Syr., Old Lat. μer' aurns. The solemn irony of Judith's reply is obvious to us who know the sequel of the story.

At the end the Syriac has: "that I have determined."

5. till midnight.] μexpì μeσovons Ts VUKTÓS, a classical form of expression; cf. ἡμέρα μεσοῦσα, Hdt. iii. 104 ; θέρους μεσοῦντος, Thucyd. v. 57. See also Exod. xii. 29: ¿yeven de perovans Tĥs VUKTós. Heb. пyna, "in the half of the night." So Syr.

toward the morning watch.] For "towards,” Cod. iii. has repì, «about."

pòs, Cf.

slept till midnight, and she arose when it was toward the morning watch,

6 Ánd sent to Holofernes, saying, Let my lord now command that thine handmaid may go forth unto prayer.

Then Holofernes commanded his guard that they should not stay her: thus she abode in the camp three days, and went out in the night into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water by the camp.

Exod. xiv. 24, panna, "in the watch of the morning.' It was the last night-watch before sunrise. See Judges vii. 19; 1 Sam. xi. 11; Matt. xiv. 25; Mark xiii. 35; Luke xii. 38.

6. go forth unto prayer.] Syr. to pray. The Mosaic Law nowhere prescribes early acts of devotion. Even Daniel was content

to pray three times a day (Dan. vi. 10), according to the custom indicated in Ps. lv. 17, which specifies the hours of evening, morning, and noonday (cf. Acts iii. 1, x. 9; the sixth and ninth hours). But the zeal of earnest piety has never waited for prescription in such matters (Ps. cxix. 147, 148); and, apart from her habitual asceticism, Judith certainly had special reason to pray on the present occasion. Cf. also 1 Sam. xv. 11; Rev. iv. 8, vii. 15; 1 Macc. iii. 47, vii. 37.

7. went out in the night.] Used to go forth every night and dip herself (2 Kings v. 14). Midrash: 1 n bas, “to dip her body.” The dipping was ceremonial: cf. Exod. xxx. 17-21; Ps. xxvi. 6; John xiii. 10; Heb. x. 22. Telemachos washed his hands in the sea before

praying to Athena ('Odyss.' ii. 260). The Jewish poσevxaì, or oratories, were usually near water: cf. Acts xvi. 13; Juven. Sat. iii. 296: “Ede ubi consistas, in qua te quaero proseucha." Volkmar asserts that Judith would neither eat nor even pray until after she had taken a bath, and that this extreme scrupulousness goes beyond that indicated in Mark vii. 2, and belongs to a later time (viz. that of Trajan). But she did not bathe`immediately before her evening meal; and it cannot be supposed that her fasting through the day was unaccompanied by prayer, or the fact that she could only bathe once a day. was itself determined, as Volkmar states, by

in a fountain of water by the camp.] Rather, in the camp, at the fountain of water. Cod. 58, the Syr., and Old Lat. omit in the camp (Gk. év τĥ πapeμßoλî). According to ch. vii.

8 And when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her people.

9 So she came in clean, and remained in the tent, until she did eat her meat at evening.

10 And in the fourth day Holofernes made a feast to his own servants

3. the Assyrians encamped by the fountain. When it is said in the verse before us that Judith used to go forth (from the camp) every night, the meaning must be that she went from Holofernes' headquarters at the centre of the camp to the far outskirts where the fountain was. But even after this explanation, the words év T Tapeμß. still wear a suspicious look. Movers suggested that the Gk. translator mistook 1," from the un

cleanness,” for 2, "in the camp." Cod.

58, Syr., Old Lat. have in the fountain.

8. came out.] avéẞn, went up, sc. out of the water: Matt. iii. 16; Mark i. 10.

she besought.] She used to (or would) beseech. 'Edéero (Ionic form; Hdt. iii. 157), the imperfect, expresses what she did on each

occasion.

to the raising up.] eis àváσrnua (Cod. iii. vulgo, dváσreμa); see note on ch. ix. 10 supra. For the metaphor, cf. Ps. iii. 3; ix. 13; xviii. 48. The raising of Israel implied the bringing low of Assyria; Ps. xx. 8.

9. So she came in clean, and remained in the tent.] And coming in clean she would remain, &'c. Bissell renders" she remained so" (i.e. clean), adding that the word "seems necessary to complete the sense." The Syriac has," and when she came in, she would remain in purity in the tent." But the A. V. is preferable.

until she did eat her meat.] péxpis o προσηνέγκατο (Codd. 19, 108, προσεφέρετο) Tηv Tрopηv auTns, "until she took to herself her food." Cf. Xen. 'Cyrop.' iv. 2, 41; and the passive, rà πрoopepopeva, meat or drink, food. Wisdom xvi. 21 τῇ τοῦ προσφερομένου ἐπιOvuía, "to the appetite of the eater."

10. And... Holofernes made.] Kai éyévero ... éñoinσev ‘Oλ. nvv...'ni; a common Heb. construction. Feast is móтos, banquet, nap; cf. Esth. i. 5, 9.

to his own servants only.] I.e. his immediate attendants, his personal retinue and the officers of his household.

called... to the banquet.] ékáλeσev eis tηv Kλnow (so Fritzsche after Codd. iii. 19, 58, 23, 52, 44, and many MSS.; vulgo xpĥow). The

only, and called none of the officers to the banquet.

II Then said he to Bagoas the eunuch, who had charge over all that he had, Go now, and persuade this Hebrew woman which is with thee, that she come unto us, and eat and drink with us.

12 For, lo, it will be a shame for

common reading appears meaningless. KAños properly means an invitation to a feast, e.g. Xenoph. 'Sympos.' i. 7. Here it denotes the feast itself-Old Lat. ad cenam—or the persons invited, the guests, or company (De Wette). The Heb. may have been P, Lev. xxiii. 2, 3, 4.

none of the officers.] οὐδένα τῶν πρὸς ταῖς Xpelais, "none of those in charge of affairs" (German, die bei den Geschäften): i.e. the various commanders of the army. Cf. 1 Macc. Χ. 37, κατασταθήσεται ἐπὶ χρειῶν τῆς βασιλείας, "shall be set over the affairs of the kingdom;' and xiii. 37, γράφειν τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν χρειῶν. None the occasion was not a public one. (Syriac: of the army commanders were invited, because "and a man of the soldiers and officers he called not.")

11. Bagoas.] Vulg. Vagao; a name derived from the Persian: see Plin. 'Hist. Nat.' xiii. 4, 9; Quintil. v. 12, 21. Arnald quotes, "Quem penes est dominam servandi cura Bagoae" (Ovid, 'Amor.' ii. 2. 1). The name 12, Bigwai (Ezra ii. 2, 14), may be related to Bagoas (cf. Baywúas, Cod. 58 passim, and Old Persian apavya, i.e. sine testibus). Eunuchs were employed by the ancient Assyrian as by other Oriental monarchs; but the name Bagoas indicates that the present passage belongs to post-Persian times. The Midrash writes DD, "the eunuch," instead of Bagoas.

12. it will be a shame for our person.] alσxpоv Tроσμ. Heb.es, Ezek. vii. 18 (or n). The words put into the mouth of Holofernes are strikingly true to nature. Habitual sin of any kind, and sexual licence especially, may have the effect of falsifying the judgment and reversing the moral perceptions, so that a man will call evil good with entire sincerity, and glory in his own unspeakable shame.

"When we in our viciousness grow hard

(O misery on't!) the wise gods seel our eyes In our own filth; drop our clear judgments;

make us

Adore our errors; laugh at us while we strut To our confusion."

Ant, and Cleop. iii. sc. II.